TOKYO (AP) - Filled with pink and fuzzy things and cuddly bears, 6%DOKIDOKI, a tiny store in the heart of Tokyo’s Harajuku district, is bursting with "kawaii," the Japanese for "cuteness."What it doesn’t have enough of, as in zero, are foreign tourists.
And it could sure use some.Like much of Asia, including Taiwan, Vietnam and Australia, Japan’s borders remain closed to tourists.
While other Asian countries are inching toward reopening, Japanese borders will likely remain shut for some time to come. That’s a hardship for the many businesses that had come to rely on foreign tourists, who numbered 32 million in 2019, before the pandemic."Foreigners understand ‘kawaii' more emotionally than do Japanese.